


Whitebeard's Daughter

by puppytrixie5



Series: The Life of Rose D. Edward [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, adults who don't know how to raise a kid are now forced to, and not understanding how kids grow up, horribly written battle scenes, they are all idiots but love their kid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22179991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppytrixie5/pseuds/puppytrixie5
Summary: Whitebeard is suddenly given a daughter and the whitebeard pirates must come together to raise their new addition.
Series: The Life of Rose D. Edward [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629172
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	1. Baby Aboard

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly just for me to practice writing and also because I love writing about one piece characters. I'm still undecided about pairings, though there will most definitively be hints towards love with some characters. It will also follow canon for the most part but there shall be a few things that won't be exactly the same. If you notice anything majorly wrong with either my spelling/grammar or even if the story seems off just tell me so I can try and fix it. It is greatly appreciated and helpful. Anyways Enjoy.

Marco sat up in the crow’s nest enjoying the cool night air. He was always one to enjoy some time alone to watch the stars. Of course, that does not mean that he was not paying attention to his current task. Though he was not too worried because Moby Dick was currently docked off of one of the many islands under Whitebeard’s protection. They were there because Whitebeard had gotten a message from someone on the island that he must meet them. Glancing over at the small island he noticed a small rowboat with a single person sitting on it. With a light stretch as he stood up, he jumped over the railing, landing on the deck with a soft thud. 

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the one in the rowboat was a woman who was quite well known on the ship, simply because she had been the head nurse for Whitebeard up until roughly two years ago where she suddenly left. He leaned over the railing watching her draw closer until her boat had reached Moby Dick. He quickly let down the rope ladder where she quietly climbed up and gently landed on the deck.  
“Welcome back Layla, yoi.” He commented with a slight smile towards her.

Layla gave a friendly smile back and adjusted her grip on the object she was holding. Marco glanced at the bundle of cloth wrapped up in her arms before looking up at her with a curious gaze. She glanced around shyly before once again gently moving the bundle of cloth to show Marco what was wrapped up in the cloth. Marco was met face to face with a small face with sky blue eyes staring into his widened blue eyes. He quickly looked up at Layla with a warm smile.

“What’s its name, yoi?” He questioned, glancing at the baby once again.  
“Rose D. Edward.” She said smiling fondly down at her child. 

His head shot up with breakneck speed to look at her face once again shocked. She glanced away again with a faint blush on embarrassed to say anything. After a few moments of silence, she turned to finally look at Marco still not looking him in the eyes too embarrassed. 

“W-well when two adults love each other very much or get drunk late at night with each other-”  
“Okay, I get it. You don’t need to explain it. Anyways I assume you are here to see pops than, yoi?” 

She gave a quick nod pulling her child close before glancing up behind her. Marco glanced over his shoulder to see the fourth division commander Thatch walking across the deck towards them. After a few more short strides he stood next to Marco resting his arm on his shoulder. He gave them both his cheesy smile before looking up Layla up and down.  
“Layla your back. We have all missed you, Especially Oyaji.” Thatch rambled happily.

Layla looked down at the baby with a soft smile. Thatch eyes had followed her. He stared at the child and then looked at followed Layla’s and saw the baby she was holding. He gasped loudly before looking up at Marco. He could already feel his eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

“You had a kid with Layla and didn’t tell me?!” He shouted at Marco with wide eyes.  
“No, I did not have a kid with Layla,” Marco said trying not to smack him.  
“But the baby had blonde hair and blue eyes. Well, Layla does have blue eyes so do you and you are the only one on this ship who has that color blonde hair.” Thatch pointed out.

Layla gave Thatch a short smile before gently rocking the newly awakened baby in her arms.  
“I need to talk to Whitebeard,” Layla said glancing at Marco.  
“He is still in his room. I’m sure I don’t need to show you the way.” Marco told her.

She shook her head side to side. She let out a small worried sigh before making her way to his room where she stood outside his door briefly before knocking lightly. She heard his gruff voice telling her to come in.

Whitebeard was awake and sitting on his bed when Layla stepped inside. He gave her a soft smile happy for her return. She quickly returned the smile before glancing down at her kid and back up at her lover. 

“So this is why you had suddenly told me you were going on a vacation for a while.” He said softly not wanting to wake the child. She gave him a shy nod before she continued on. “I assume that I know who the father is?” He asked with a knowing gaze. She gave him another nod before looking down at her child who had fallen asleep again. 

“Yes, you are the father Newgate. This is our child, Rose D. Edward.” She told him looking up at him to see he was also looking at his child. He had a fond smile on his face glancing at Rose proudly. Layla walked over to whitebeard before gently setting the child into his hand. He gently held his new daughter afraid of dropping her. Layla let out a few chuckles at the sight. Here she was watching the strongest man in the world fret over a tiny child in his giant hand. The child was barely the size of his palm, though Layla herself was just barely taller than his palm herself.

“So what will you do?” Whitebeard asked glancing at Layla. She looked down at the ground thinking before hesitantly looking back at him.

“I was hoping that you would take her and me back in...Just for a while...I’m afraid of…” Layla kept glancing at Whitebeard and the ground unsure how to tell him.

“Afraid of what my dear?” He asked softly gently picking her up with his other hand to hold her closer.

She gently shifted in his palm until she got comfortable. She stared intently at her fidgeting hands before letting out a long sigh. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear before looking in his eyes and continued. “I’m dying love. I only have a few days, a week tops. And before you ask, no there is no cure. I will die this week and sadly there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. I came to let you know of our kid and ask that you take care of her. Though I know it will be hard and it may be safer for her to live out her life in one of the normal seas not knowing who her father truly is….I hate how she will never be able to live a normal life simply because the world will claim she is the child of a devil...No kid deserves to have to live that life…” 

Whitebeard sat still staring into his lover’s eyes. He mulled over what to tell her before giving her a reassuring smile. “I will take care of her my love. She will grow up strong and she will get to choose how she wants to live her life, whether it be as a pirate, a marine, a revolutionary, or even a normal civilian. You can rest easy knowing that she will be in safe hands. We will not spread that she is my child.” 

She smiled and her shoulders relaxed as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She stood up and gave whitebeard a quick kiss before pulling away. She leaned over to his other hand to pick up her child and give her a small kiss on the forehead.

“I love you both so much...I wish I didn’t have to go and leave you both...but the world is a cruel place...” Layla told whitebeard as she put Rose back into Whitebeard’s hand before jumping down to the ground. He looked her over with a sad smile.

“I assume this is the last time I shall be seeing you?” He asked trying to keep his tears down.

She gave him a heartbroken smile before nodding. He gently gave her a hug which she returned to the best of her ability. She gave him another kiss, longer than the last one but filled with just as much passion and longing as the first. Their actions conveyed their feelings and the words they could not tell each other openly. At last, Layla pulled away and gave whitebeard one final smile. She set down a small basket next to him and gave Rose a final goodbye kiss on her forehead. Rose smiled happily and reached towards her mother babbling happily. Layla’s eyes silent filled with tears as she quietly left the room never to be seen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Duties


	2. Duties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone gets confused Rose is about 8 months old currently and she shall be a year younger than Ace and Sabo.

The next morning Whitebeard called all the commanders of all sixteen divisions into his room for a meeting. He sat quietly holding sleeping Rose in his one hand. Marco was the first to arrive and stood next to him to watch his fellow commanders arrive.

The commanders stood around their captain wanting to know why they had been called into a meeting so early in the morning. 

“Why are we having a meeting so early in the morning?.....” The fourth commander Thatch asked with a yawn.

Whitebeard lowered his hand to show the division commanders the small bundle of joy who was rolling around in his hand. “Layla has had a baby and asked us to watch over her. Since she is no longer able to.” He said with a saddened tone.

“One of you all need to be able to take care of her well I do other duties. Of course, we will all be helping each other out with the child but the main babysitter would be nice.” Whitebeard said finally answering Thatch’s question.

Izo gently picked up the child and held it close snuggling it. “She is so cute! I finally get to make a bunch of clothing for a little girl!” He happily commented smiling at the child. He would have taken over watching over the child if not for the fact that Rose started to cry and scream and did not stop until he set her back down in Whitebeard’s grasp.

“Guess that drops Izo out of the running,” Jozu said as he stepped up to try his luck with the child only for Rose to start to cry the moment she saw him. He sighed and stepped back defeated. 

Thatch broke out laughing. “Looks like the Whitebeard pirates have finally met their greatest foe yet. She has already defeated two out of the sixteen commanders.” He said wiping away a tear.

“Its because you all don’t know how to take care of a baby,” Atmos Said as he walked over to whitebeard and went to tickle her belly. Though when he raised his hand into the air she was dangling from his fingers like a fish on a hook. He looked around at the others for help. Namur stepped next to him and grabbed Rose. Well, he was able to get Rose to let go it was only because she broke down crying hitting him trying to getaway. Namur sighed and set Rose down and pulled Atmos to the defeated group. 

Thatch sat there smirking and watched as Fossa, Curiel, Blenheim, Jiru, and Kingdew fell to the same fate as those ahead of them. Whitebeard sat there watching their numbers slowly start to dwindle. He was worried he may have to find someone who was not a commander to do the job. Not that he did not trust everyone on his ship it is that he trusts the commanders more and knows that they would be a better fit for the job. 

Finally, Rakuyo stepped up and gently picked up the small child. She did not immediately break out crying so he let out a sigh of relief which seemed to have broken the spell she was under because she once again started to cry again. In a moment of panic, he shoved the child into Blamenco’s many pockets where everyone sat in silence staring at Rakuyo. The only noise was the muffled sobs they heard from the pocket of Blamenco. 

Blamenco quickly realized that they can not leave a child in a pocket like this and pulled her out. Only for Rose to look at him and start to scream her lungs out. He passed the child to Vista where she paused to stare at him before thrashing wildly trying to be free. 

Thatch at this point was on the floor holding his side from laughing so hard. “A one-year-old baby has taken down twelve of the commanders.” 

Haruta grabbed Rose from Vista as she continued her barrage. He pushed Rose into Thatch’s hands where she finally stopped and looked up at him. Thatch smirked smugly at those who had been defeated as he held the kid. In fact, she did not let out a single scream but sadly Thatch did when she reached up and yanked his pompadour. 

Dai the second division commander let out a laugh as he picked up the small child and gently rocked her to sleep. Thatch grumbled out something about stupid children well he fixed his hair grumpily. 

“It looks like we have the one who shall be taking care of our little Rose,” Whitebeard said relieved.

“I can’t though. Remember I have a month-long mission that I’m setting off this afternoon?” Dai said as he looked at his father in the eyes.

“Oh yes...Well, then all that leaves is Marco.” Whitebeard said looking at Marco.

“Yea, Mama bird can do it. He is great with kids.” Thatch giggled out. 

Marco glared at Thatch as he gently took Rose from Dai’s arms. He watched as she snuggled closer into his chest as she slept on. 

“Well, it is settled then. Marco, Dai, and Thatch shall be switching off duties with taking care of Rose until further notice. Any complaints? Questions?” Whitebeard asked looking around the room at his children. 

No one spoke up. It had been decided the duty shall be put on Marco, Dai, and Thatch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Guns Don't Make Good Toys For Babies


	3. Guns Don't Make Good Toys For Babies

It had been a month since Rose was given to the Whitebeard pirates. Today she was currently sitting on a blanket on the deck as everyone went about their normal business. Marco sat not too far from her doing some paperwork well keeping an eye on her. She was watching the crew members walking around the deck. She would occasionally glance at Marco then go back to watching the others.

“What are you doing, Yoi?” Marco asked as he heard her start to babble. 

He glanced up to see her with her hands and feet on the ground but with her butt in the air. Someone from the crowd shouted that she was trying to walk and everyone quickly stopped what they were doing to cheer their youngest on. They gathered around excited to see their youngest take her first steps. She slowly stood and with a firm stance looking at Marco. Marco watched her and gently held out his hands waiting for her to make it. Sadly as she lifted her foot she lost her balance and fell backwards landing on her butt. 

Everyone still gave a small shout of encouragement and joy as their youngest was finally starting to learn how to walk, now everyone was wanting to know what her first word would be. 

“Everyone get back to work, yoi.” Marco scolded everyone as he stood up and walked over to the littlest one. 

Everyone quickly went back to what they were doing. Thatch walked up onto the deck towards Marco with a small bowl of baby food. 

“Hey, Mama bird. How is your little chickling today?” Thatch asked with a wide smile on his face as he sat down next to Rose.

“It’s Marco and you missed it she almost took her first step, yoi,” Marco said sitting down and putting Rose in his lap.

“Damn I want her to walk towards me first. That way I can boast about it to everyone.” Thatch said as he fed Rose.

“You barely come close to her afraid she is going to ruin your hair again, yoi.” Marco reminded him lazily as he helped feed her. 

As soon as Thatch finished feeding Rose Marco sat her back down on her blanket. Thatch stood up gathering the dirty dishes as he glanced around. 

“Do we not have any toys for her to play with?’ Thatch asked pointed around her where there was nothing. 

“I have not had the time to go look for something kid-friendly for her to play with. Though I doubt we have anything for her to play with. We will probably have to stop at the island to pick up something, yoi.” Marco said as he watched Rose chew on the pen he was using.

“I can watch her well you go look for some things for her,” Thatch told Marco as he sat back down in front of Rose.

“It would be helpful, yoi,” Marco said stand up.

Marco walked around the rather large ship looking for anything that could be used as a toy. Finding nothing really besides a few objects that were okay for her to chew on. He was headed back up when he heard a loud bang on the deck followed by people screaming. Well, his expression did not change he ran to the deck to see Rose holding a pistol and a random crew member holding his leg laying on the ground screaming. 

“WHO GAVE A BABY A LOADED GUN, YOI?!” Marco yelled as he pulled the gun away from Rose’s little hands. 

“I didn’t know it was loaded!” One of the members shouted as they parted ways for the wounded to be carried off.

Marco handed the gun to someone else to take care of well he groaned. He rubbed his temples already feeling a massive headache quickly approaching. He picked up Rose glaring at Thatch who was supposed to be watching her. 

“Well I mean she wasn’t hurt. So there is that Mama Marco.” Thatch told Marco nervously.

Marco stared him down as Thatch stood there nervously sweating. The only sound was the crew members getting back to their normal jobs.

“Gurararara I came up to see what all the commotion was just to find out our youngest is already a troublemaker,” Whitebeard said aloud as he walked over to his seat.

“Well, it is just because we have nothing for her to play with or occupy her time. So some idiot thought giving a toddler a loaded gun would be a great idea, yoi.” Marco said walking over to his father. 

“Gurararara well we are headed to pick up Dai. If you go and call ahead I’m sure he could pick up some toys or items for her. Or just pick some up in general. Until then I will take care of her.” Whitebeard said holding out his hand for Marco to put the child in.

“Are you sure, yoi?” Marco asked his captain as he gently set Rose in his awaiting hand.

“Don’t worry, I know how to take care of kids. I will just tell her a story or sing her a song until she falls asleep.” Whitebeard said placing Rose on his knee. 

Marco watched his father figure start to sing to her the old pirate’s tune Binks’ Sake. He smiled softly watching Rose happily clapping along to his captain singing. He could see the others also watching the scene. He sighed before heading to his cabin for a short nap until they met up with Dai.

* * *

Marco woke up a few hours later to someone yelling land ho. He got up and made his way to the deck to see Rose still on Whitebeard’s lap but he was currently telling her a story about the late Pirate King Gol D. Roger. Marco stood at his captain’s side. When the ship was fully docked just offshore of the island Whitebeard handed Rose to Marco and motioned for Haruta to come over. He stood in front of his captain a bit nervous and unsure why he had been called upon.

“I would like for you to join Marco in going to town to get Dai and to also helping shop for our newest crew member,” Whitebeard ordered him.

“Okay pops,” Haruta said as he looked at Marco.

Marco was already getting a rowboat ready being mindful of the toddler he was holding. Haruta quickly went over and helped Marco lower the boat into the waters below before jumping around the small ship. He waited until he was steady to reach out towards Marco.

“What do you want, yoi?” Marco asked looking at Haruta’s awaiting hands.

“For you to give me the kid. So you don’t startle her or drop her when you get on board.” Haruta said stretching his hands out even further.

Marco looked at Haruta’s awaiting arms before pulling his blue sash off his waist and quickly tying it into a makeshift baby carrier. 

“Wow, you really are prepared Mama Marco,” Haruta commented as he let out a small chuckle.

“It is Marco, yoi,” Marco said as he gently climbed down a rope ladder and sat down in the back of the rowboat.

He rolled his eyes and sat down and started to row. The pair quickly made it onto the shore where Dai was eagerly awaiting them.

“Hey, guys. I see you brought our bundle of joy.” Dai said happily as he tossed his bag into the boat ready to leave.

“Well, we needed to go shopping for her,” Haruta told Dai as he stepped onto the beach pulling the boat a bit more onto the sand to stop it from drifting off.

Marco stood up and gently stepped onto the sand being mindful of Rose, as she had fallen asleep well they were rowing to shore. He glanced at Dai who was watching the small child.

“Come on, let's head into town and quickly by the things we need so we can head back,” Haruta said walking ahead of the two older men.

They followed him into town where they bought some toys and other items they would need. They were on their way back when Rose suddenly woke up crying. Marco was holding too many bags for him to grab Rose so Haruta pulled her out of her carrier and held her gently trying to calm her down. Though he was not too sure about how one was supposed to properly hold a child. Before Dai could take the crying child from Haruta’s arms an old woman scooped Rose into her arms and gently started to hum to her well rocking her gently, instantly calming the child. 

Haruta watched in amazement as this woman was able to do something a whitebeard commander could not do. She then turned a sharp glare at the three of them.

“How could you let your twelve-year-old child take care of your baby. What kind of awful parents are you?” She asked harshly glaring at Marco and Dai.

“We are not-” Dai started before the woman jabbed her finger into his chest.

“You can not let a kid so young hold a baby without worrying! Did you not see how poorly she was holding this sweet angel?! She almost dropped her! She was not even properly holding the baby’s head!” She yelled into a confused Dai’s face. She then turned on her heels to glare at Marco.

“And you Miss! Have you not been feeding her properly?! She is too skinny with almost no muscle build-up! She should be up and walking on her own by now! I bet you are still feeding her milk with no solid food!” She yelled at Marco.

He kept silent because it was true. They were not too sure if they should have also been giving her solid foods or wait until she was older. 

“And that baby carrier does not look safe at all! A bit more walking and she would have slipped right out the bottom! You both should be ashamed of yourselves. I am honestly surprised that both were able to raise that young one to that old without killing her.” She said pointing at Haruta with her free hand.

“Um actually ma’am, I’m not their kid. I’m an-” Haruta started before the old woman pulled Haruta in front of her away from Marco and Dai with a loud gasp.

“You kidnapped a child! You probably kidnapped this one too! You are awful! You two will pay! I will be taking these two to whitebeard where he will punish you for your awful crimes!” She yelled at them both dragging Haruta towards their ship.

Marco and Dai stood still dumbfounded. Well, she did have some good points about them being bad parents but she had gotten it all wrong about the situation. Their trance was broken when Dai doubled over laughing at something.

“What is so funny, yoi?” Marco asked annoyed that Rose and Haruta had been technically kidnapped under his watch.

“That old lady thought you and Haruta were girls! And best of all she thought you and I were married!” Dai said as he was trying to stop laughing. 

Marco glared at him before turning into a phoenix and flying to the ship. As he landed he could see that the old woman was now yelling at Whitebeard about raising kids. Marco watched in amazement as this normal woman was able to quiet whitebeard without an argument out of him. There were only a handful of people who could truly say that they have done that to the strongest man in the world. He looked around and noticed one of the nurses was writing down what she was saying well another was holding Rose with Haruta standing close by. Dai joined them on the deck just as the woman was finally ending her lecture.

“You do not have to worry ma’am they are all apart of my crew,” Whitebeard informed her.

“Which is worse. You can not raise such small children on a pirate ship, it is way too dangerous.” She told him.

“Haruta is a division commander and he is an adult. As for raising a small child on a pirate ship, we know, but she will still continue to be raised by us.” Whitebeard said using his commanding voice leaving no room for arguments.

The old woman sent him a glare but did not argue further.

“Now I shall have my son Vista help take you back across the shore,” Whitebeard said as Vista stepped up and helped the old woman back to town. 

“Were you taking notes of what she was saying, yoi?” Marco asked as he made his way to the nurses.

She gave a nod before closing the journal and handing it over to Marco. Rose at some point during the exchange had woken up and now glancing around until her eyes landed on Marco.

“Ma,” Rose yelled loudly as she reached for Marco.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Rose, realizing that she had just spoken her first word. They were most definitely going to be having a party tonight to celebrate this. And it was not simply because they are always looking for an excuse to party. Marco took Rose from the nurse holding her gently and smiling warmly down at her. They may not have realized just how much she meant to them. Rose was apart of the crew and apart of their hearts, nothing could change that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Birthday Surprises part one


	4. Birthday Surprises part one

Today was Rose’s fourth birthday. Now Marco would have been excited and getting ready to party with the rest of the crew if it was not for one minor annoying detail. A certain annoying red-haired pirate captain had decided that he was wanting to hold a meeting with Whitebeard today. He could already feel the massive headache that the bastard was going to cause him. He sighed and turned around in his seat to check on the birthday girl. She was currently drawing pictures of all of the members she could think of. Of course, looking at them you probably would never be able to actually tell who it was supposed to be but that did not stop everyone from enjoying them. Marco himself has received quite a few of her pictures. 

Marco sighed and stood up slightly stretching. Rose stood up ready to follow him. Since learning to walk Rose has had a habit of following him around like a little chickling. Which has furthered his nickname of a mother hen. 

“Ma I’m hungry….” Rose told Marco as she grabbed onto his pant leg looking up at him.

“Then let’s go to the gallery and get a snack, yoi,” Marco said smiling down at her. 

She held onto his sash as he walked to the gallery. As usual, the gallery was full of people. Marco picked up Rose and sat her in her highchair where she stared him down. They will probably have to switch her to a normal chair or a booster seat since she has been saying she is a big girl and didn’t need to be in a highchair anymore. 

“Wait here, Rose. I’m going to get you some food from the kitchen, yoi.” Marco told Rose as he headed into the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, they were busy preparing food for the party tonight. He spotted Thatch in the middle of making a stew. 

“Hey, Mother Hen. Is your little chickling hungry for a snack?” Thatch asked glancing over at him.

“Yea, yoi,” Marco said.

Thatch smiled and pointed at a plate with some fruits and other snack food. Marco thanked him and took the plate out to Rose where he saw a few of the crew members were talking to her. Though she did not seem to be paying attention to them and was just watching Teach from the 2nd division eat his cherry pies. Teach himself did not seem to notice that he was being watched and kept on eating his fill of pie. She only looked away when Marco set the plate he was holding in front of her.

“Go ahead and eat, yoi,” Marco ordered Rose.

She quickly polished off the plate not leaving a single crumb behind. Marco watched with a bit of wonder about how she could eat so fast and where she was storing all of that food. When she was finished Marco put the plate with the stack of other dirty dishes and let Rose out of her highchair. She looked up at Marco before walking towards the deck.

“Where are you headed to little chickie, yoi?” Marco asked following closely after her.

“Pops, it is story time,” Rose said as she waddled towards whitebeard’s chair. 

Marco picked her up and took her over to whitebeard’s chair where he as usual drinking sake. Rose jumped out of Marco’s grip when they arrived and scaled his leg to sit in his lap.

“Gurarararara. Hello, chickling are you here for your story?” Whitebeard asked as he set his cup down and smiled down at her.

“Yep! I want to hear another story about the Pirate King!” Rose yelled excitedly.

“It seems he is your favorite pirate,” Whitebeard questioned.

“He isn’t my favorite pirate. Pops is my favorite, but I like his adventures.” Rose explained. 

Whitebeard let a happy smile appear on his face before launching into one of the many stories he hand of his old drinking mate. He was about to finish telling the tale when he heard one of his many sons aboard saying that the Red Force was docking next to him.

“Those who are new step back, yoi,” Marco ordered the newer recruits.

“Permission to board Whitebeard?” Asked a cheeky voice from the ship next to the Moby.

“Permission granted brat,” Whitebeard said looking at the red-haired man who had jumped aboard.

“Don’t cause trouble for me Shanks, yoi,” Marco told the red-haired pirate captain.

“Marco! Come join my crew!” Shanks asked happily as he held Marco’s hand.

“Never, yoi,” Marco said as he pulled his hand away from Shanks to go and stand over next to his captain.

“Gurararara. So why are you here brat?” Whitebeard asked looking at Shanks.

“I came here to bring you some of this sake I was given and I came to ask why you have been laying low,” Shanks asked seriously looking up at Whitebeard.

Whitebeard opened his mouth to tell Shanks but Rose decided at that very moment to jump off of Whitebeard’s lap and onto Shanks. Luckily for everyone, Shanks was able to catch her before she hit the ground and hurt herself. 

“Well, I guess this explains why you guys have been laying low,” Shanks said looking over Rose than looked up trying to determine whos kid it was.

“She is still a bit too young to be fighting right now so we have been in safer areas away from danger until she can fight brat.” 

“Though I’m a bit curious who the kid's parents are. From the blonde hair, I would want to say, Marco.” Shanks asked glancing up at Whitebeard as he shifted his hold on Rose.

“Layla is her mother though she never told us who the father was,” Marco told Shanks as he walked over to take Rose from Shanks. 

Though when Marco grab Rose to take her back from Shanks but this just caused her to hold onto Shanks’ shirt tighter. Marco blinked and tried to pull her off but she just held on tighter. Now if she was a normal kid Marco would have been able to pull her off of Shanks, but sadly she was not. She was much stronger than a normal person. Well, Marco was still much stronger than Rose but he could not use his full force or he could hurt her. So Marco settled with glaring angrily at Shanks. Shanks just returned the glare with the smuggest look Marco has ever seen.

“God I want to punch you in the face, yoi,” Marco told Shanks

“Don’t hurt him Ma!” Rose yelled at Marco clinging even tighter to Shanks.

“Guess she likes me better,” Shanks said as he snuggled Rose gloating to Marco.

Whitebeard laughed well watching his first son struggled not to attack Shanks. 

“Well now that you know why we are in safer areas leave. We have other important matters tonight.” Marco said eager to get rid of him.

“Today is my birthday! We are having a party! You have to be there too!” Rose told Shanks happily.

“Well only if Whitebeard allows it,” Shanks told Rose giving her a smile.

“Can he stay? Please….” Rose asked Whitebeard giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

Whitebeard made the mistake of looking her in the eyes. Of course, he could not say no to that face, no one could. 

“Fine, the brat can stay for the party tonight.” 

“YAY! Thanks, Oyaji!” Rose said happily.

Marco let out a loud sigh, his headache was already pounding having him here would make it even worse. Though if Rose was happy then he wouldn’t be against Shanks staying for the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Birthday Surprises Part Two


	5. Birthday Surprises part two

So far things have gone swimmingly. The party was in full swing, everyone was currently either drinking, eating, a few were even singing along to the music. Rose was currently sitting on Shanks’s lap listening to him tell her the adventures of the mighty Red-haired pirate. Marco sat not too far watching the crews mingle making sure no one had got too rough with anyone. Benn Shanks’s first mate was helping Marco keep on eye on everyone. Whitebeard somehow was able to convince the nurses that he should be allowed to drink since it was a party for their youngest. 

Rose suddenly stood up from Shanks’s lap and waddled over to Marco before pulling on his sleeve pointing to a whitebeard nurse who was currently dancing with a red-haired pirate member. 

“What’s up chickling, yoi?” Marco asked as he picked up Rose.

“What are they doing?” Her eyes never once leaving the dancing couple.

“They are dancing, yoi,” Marco said also watching them.

“I want to dance with Mama!” Rose suddenly shouted as she jumped from Marco’s grip and pulled him towards where others were dancing.

When they reached the dance floor Marco had Rose stand on the top of his feet and they held hands. Marco swayed a bit to the music and now and then took small steps to move them back and forward. Rose happily danced along with him. From the sidelines, he could hear a few giggles mainly from Thatch and Shanks. He would have usually have gotten angry at them but right now he too happy enjoying the moment. 

“Rose how about I teach you something, yoi?” Marco asked leaning down a bit to be heard better.

“I don’t want to learn now! I want to dance!” Rose pouted.

Marco let out a chuckle, “ Don’t worry it isn’t boring. I am going to teach you how to call me if you are ever in danger, yoi.”

She looked up at him curiously forgetting entirely about her earlier anger. Marco smiled down at her before he let out a low whistle similar to a bird call, though not one Rose had ever heard in her life. 

“How do I do that Mama?!” Rose said excitedly sparkles in her eyes.

“Push your tongue to the roof like this and blow, yoi,” Marco said showing her how to.

She did what she was told to do and let out a breath with a kind of similar noise was made. It was clear she was close she just needed some more practice. After a few more attempts she was able to make the same sound Marco was able too.

“You can call me whenever you need me. Only you know this call so I know that you need me and I will come running. No matter what is happening or whenever, yoi.” Marco told Rose seriously looking into her eyes.

Rose just hugged him but was only able to hug his legs thanks to her short height. 

“Everyone it's present and cake time!” Thatch yelled to the crowd.

Marco picked up Rose and brought her to her seat next to Oyaji was sitting. Stacked next to here was a huge pile of presents from the crew. Rose stared at the presents excitedly. She waited until Marco signaled for her to start opening presents. She went to reach for one when Thatch handed her a small square-ish package for her to open first. 

“It's from me,” Thatch told her jabbing his thumb into his chest.

Rose quickly tore it open to find a cute apron in her size. She glanced at Marco who mouthed to her to say thank you. She nodded and stood up in her chair and leaned over to give Thatch a kiss on the cheek before smiling at him.

“Thank you big brother Thatch!” 

“You’re welcome chickling.” Thatch said as he ruffled her hair smiling.

For the next hour, Rose opened everyone else’s presents and thanked them the same way she had thanked Thatch. From Marco, she got some simple art materials for her to draw with. Dai had given her tons of candy and a necklace with a pink and blue gem on it. Jozu gave her some hair clips. Vista, Blamenco, Rakuyo, and Blenheim had gotten her dolls to play with. Curiel, Kingdew, Atmos, Jiru, and Fossa had given her different toys to play with. Haruta had made her a specially made bed in the shape of the Moby Dick made for her. Well, Izo had given her tons of dress and different clothes for her. Whitebeard had given her almost a bookshelf worth of new books for her to read. From the crew, they had also given her more books, clothes, toys, accessories, and art supplies for her. Shanks gave her an old treasure chest to use as a toy chest. After Rose had opened everyone’s presents and thanked them a bunch of the Fourth Division broke off from the group of pirates.

They came back after a few moments carrying a massive cake. The cake was in the shape of the Moby Dick and on the deck of the “ship” there were little dolls made in the likeness of the entire crew. Marco patted Thatch on the back.

“You have really outdone yourselves this year, yoi.”

“Well, this is the first birthday she will probably actually remember so why not make it special?” 

“You do realize next year will be a disappointment compared to this one, yoi.”

“Guess I’ll just have to do better next year than.” Thatch said turning to smile at Marco.

They looked back to see Rose was helping the chiefs pass out slices of cake to everyone. Of course, no one dared to refuse the cake out of fear that Rose would start to tear up. Not too long Rose came waddling up to Marco and Thatch holding two plates in each hand. She handed one to Thatch and then hugged Marco.

“Here is your cake Mama,” Rose said as she let go and handed him the other plate before sitting on his lap to eat her slice of cake. 

Everyone followed Rose’s lead and ate their slices of cake. Before too long the entire cake was gone besides the toys which had been washed of frosting and left with Rose to play with. Well everyone besides a few went back to drinking themselves drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Dai The Horrible Babysitter


	6. Dai The Horrible Babysitter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also if someone would like to have Rose meet certain characters (they can be real characters or your guys OCs if you so wish) just leave it in the reviews. You guys can also suggest like chapter ideas or themes if you want.

Rose stood tall facing her enemy. She knew there was no backing down now or she would lose everything she cared for. Fear gripped her tiny little heart yet she did not back away, in fact, the fear made her stand taller. Watching her enemy rush forward ready to attack. 

Rose let out a small squeak when the water washed up onto the shore and reached her feet. The water had barely brushed the sandcastle behind her. When the water receded she turned around and smiled at Izo.

“I protected your castle prince Izo!” Rose shouted happily well-running towards Izo.

“My brave knight. How can I ever thank you?” Izo asked.

“CANDY!” Rose demanded holding out her hands eagerly.

Izo chuckled sightly before he reached down and picked up Rose resting her on his hip.

“How about we go get breakfast first? Thatch and the others should be just about finished with it by now.” Izo said already headed to the ship.  
Rose nodded excitedly and held tight to Izo, making sure to tell everyone on their way good morning. 

They swiftly reached the gallery where it was already full of hungover pirates trying to nurse their pounding headaches. Izo walked over to the commander’s table where a few of the commanders were already enjoying their breakfast. 

“Hey short stack!” Dai shouted, much to the dismay of the others.

“DAI!” Rose responded jumping out of Izo’s grasp to Dai’s arms.

Dai caught her with ease even swinging her a bit. Rose giggled happily and demanded a piggyback ride. Dai compiled and put Rose on his back before jogged around the gallery making sure not to drop her. The whole while Rose laughed happily and shouted for him to go faster. 

Dai finally stopped after a few laps around the gallery and walked back towards the commander’s table. Rose began to complain until Dai sat her down in front of a plate of food. She soon forgot all about the ride and started to devour the food. 

“I’m still amazed about how much she eats,” Jiru mumbled watching Rose finish off her plate.

“I’m just curious where she stores it all.” Haruta handed Rose the rest of his breakfast and watched it rapidly disappear before his eyes

“The way she eats you think she would as big as Teach….” Dai thought out loud.

“If only I could eat as much as her and stay just as skinny…but alas I have to stick to many diets to lose more weight.” Izo sighed.

“It would be unhealthy for you to be any thinner than you already are, yoi,” Marco stated as he sipped his coffee and read the morning newspaper.

“Good morning killjoy. Any orders for this morning?” Dai gave a cheeky smile to Marco.

“None from Oyaji but I want you to take Rose around the island for the day. I have a lot of paperwork to do and I want her to burn off most of her energy before we set off later today.” Marco ordered Dai.

“Hmmmm…..Sure can do.” Dai said excitedly already picking up Rose.

She gave the commanders a wave goodbye before she and Dai left headed back to the beach.

Dai jumped off the deck and landed on the sand before setting Rose down. She ran slightly ahead of him but being careful not to wander too far. Dai followed her looking around the beach. The Red-Haired pirates had long since left and thankfully had been nice enough to clean up from the party last night. Dai glanced over to Rose just to see her go running into the forest.

* * *

A butterfly with black wings and vivid blue spots had flown in front of Rose’s face before flying off into the woods. She let out a small gasp.

‘It is so pretty! I have to catch it to show to Mama!’ Rose thought happily giving chase to the butterfly. She ran as fast as she could into the forest not caring that she was leaving Dai behind. 

Throughout her little chase, she had come close to catching the butterfly but it was always able to fly away. It paused to flutter in the air right in front of Rose as if teasing her. She waited a few seconds before pouncing on a butterfly like a cat. Unlike a cat though she missed her target completely and instead was sent face-first into a rather large tree. 

She had slammed herself hard enough into the tree to knock something out of it. The object had hit her on the head before bouncing to the floor and rolled a bit before coming to a stop. Forgetting all about the butterfly she had after earlier she looked up into the tree rubbing the top of her head before looking at the thing that hit her. Rose bent down and picked up the object which turned out to be a white fruit in the shape of an apple. She turned it around in her hand looking it over to see it was covered in strange swirls around it. 

“Well, now I have a little snack.” Rose happily told herself.

She started to head off in a random direction well taking a bite of the fruit. She frowned staring at the nasty tasting fruit. It had to be one of the worst things she had ever eaten. She thought about spitting it out but remembered how angry Thatch can get when she didn’t eat all she took. So she swallowed the bite and finished the rest of the fruit. She quickly finished off the last bite and looked around to see if she could see Dai or the ship. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the form of someone. She turned around to get a better look at the person to see a man as tall as Kingdew and just as round as Teach. But unlike either of them, this man was completely bald. He also hasn’t seemed to have noticed her yet. 

“Hello, sir. I’m a bit lost and I can’t find my way back. Do you know the way?” Rose asked as she slowly approached him.

The man did not seem to hear her and kept staring off into the forest. A bit confused Rose looked where he was looking but saw nothing. She reached over and gently tugged on his shirt. He was caught off guard by her and jumped back startled staring at her. 

“Did you just touch me?” The man asked in a nervous voice.

“Sorry, I know I shouldn’t touch people without their permission but you seemed too lost in thought to hear me. I didn’t mean to scare you, sir.” Rose told him smiling at him apologetically.

He surveyed her silently before glancing around the forest. He gently patted himself and seemed lost in thought. The man looked at Rose with saddening and sorrowful eyes before kneeling to her level and offering her a kind smile.

“Sorry, I’m not used to others being here. What are you doing here little one?” The man asked.

“I was playing with my older brother when I chased after a pretty butterfly. I had followed into the woods where I tried to catch it. But when I jumped on it I had missed it! I had jumped too high and I landed on a tree and I even knocked it over! And then this awful tasting fruit fell from the tree and hit me on the head, it really hurt! But I’m strong so I didn’t even cry a bit! Anyways, I tried to find the way back but I have gotten even more lost ...” Rose told him exaggerating a bit more than needed.

He let out a soft chuckle and rubbed her head before he stood up. He glanced around once again before looking back to Rose.

“How about I help you get back to your brother? I can even tell you some stories about the great Roger Pirates.” He asked her well offering his hand.

“I love stories about the Roger Pirates! Oyaji always tells me stories about them!” Rose yelled excitedly grabbing his hand.

“Well, I bet I know quite a few your dad probably has never heard.” The man boasted as he started to lead Rose back towards the beach.

* * *

Dai stared at the edge of the forest the panic quickly set in. He had been tasked to watch their youngest and yet within the first twenty minutes of being with her he had lost sight of Rose. He grabbed his head knowing full well he would have to get help from Marco. He could already feel the flaming bird’s wrath. A shiver went down his spine but shook his head to clear his thoughts. He could worry about punishment later he had to get help before Rose got herself hurt. 

He dashed onto the deck where he quickly spotted a few of the commanders relaxing. He ran into the middle of their circle.

“I need help finding Rose! She ran into the forest!” Dai yelled at them.

They quickly understood what they must do. Haruta ran off to tell the other Division Commanders of the missing child. Izo and Atmos called out to their divisions telling them to spread out and start searching the forest. Kingdew had walked over to Pops to info him of the mistake Dai had just made. With that cleared up, Dai followed Izo’s and Atmos’ example and ordered his division to start looking with him taking the lead.

Divisions second, thirteen, and sixteen had already run into the forest. Dai had finally sent the last of his division off and was about to run into the forest himself before he came to a halting stop. In front of him stood Rose staring up at him.

“Big brother!” Rose shouted happily as she tackled him into a hug.

Dai hugged her tightly happy that she had been found. After a moment he held her at arm’s length and looked her over for wounds. Finding none he let out a sigh of relief before glaring angrily down at Rose.

“Rose! You can't just go and run off like that! You gave everyone on the ship a heart attack! What if you had been fatally hurt and we couldn’t find you?!” Dai scolded her sternly staring into her eyes.

She lowered her gaze heavy heartedly feeling the disappointment she had caused the crew. 

“I’m sorry Dai...I saw this pretty butterfly I wanted to show everyone and I went after it not thinking about staying with you….” Rose said her voice shaky as she tried not to cry.

Dai sighed and pulled Rose back into a hug but this time gently rubbed her back. He waited until she was calm before continuing.

“It’s okay. Just remember for the future not to run off on your own. I’m just glad you were able to find your way back without too much trouble…” Dai said more to himself than Rose.

“I had gotten help from my new friend! He is super nice and told me lots of stories about the Roger pirates!” Rose told Dai.

Rose had turned around in Dai’s grip to look at the tree line as if someone was supposed to be there. But there was no one there, not even a single sign of anyone ever being there. Rose looked around a bit more before giving up.

“Thank you, sir, for helping me find my way back to my family! I hope I get to see you again one day!” Rose shouted into the forest and waved her hands in the air hoping the man could see her.

Dai raised an eyebrow but kept silent. Of course, he was curious to know who the man was but he couldn’t remember seeing her with anybody when she had walked out. He chalked it up to her imagination and held her hand.

“Now let’s go tell mama bird you are okay before he roasts me alive.” Dai headed back to the ship with Rose in tow. 

“I won’t let mama hurt brother!” Rose declared hugging Dai tightly as he laughed ruffling her hair. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Little Kids Are Creepy


	7. Little Kids Are Creepy

“Hey, have you noticed something strange with Rose?” Rakuyo questioned Haruta.

“No. What do you mean?” Haruta asked tilting his head.

“Just look at her. It is honestly freaking me out.” Rakuyo pointed across the deck.

Haruta looked where Rakuyo was pointing to see Rose standing in front of the ship railing. Her eyes would travel up and down the railing as if she was watching something walk up and down it. She also seemed to be talking to someone even though no one was near her.

“Maybe she has made up an imaginary friend? I mean it must be pretty lonely being around a bunch of adults.” Haruta went back to his task shrugging it off.

“Still...It’s like a horror story where the little kid is seeing ghosts and then tell their parents they are going to die…..” Rakuyo shivered watching Rose scared. 

“What are you, Thatch?” Haruta asked raising an eyebrow.

“Hey! I’m not scaredy-cat!” Thatch marched up to Haruta. 

“Sure you aren’t,” Haruta smirked looking at Thatch.

“I am not! I’ll prove it! Everyone knows that the old cabin for the first division is haunted! I bet I can stay there longer than anyone else!” Thatch pointed cockily at Haruta.

“What are you idiots doing?” Izo asked as he walked over to their group.

“Thatch and Haruta are betting on who can spend the longest in old haunted first division cabin,” Rakuyo told him.

Izo let out a laugh before wiping away a tear. “Both of you would run away at the first loud noise. I would do better than both of you.”

“Then tonight we will have a test of courage! The one who spends the whole night in the haunted room wins. And the losers have to be their servants for a whole day!” Thatch said excitedly.

“I will invite the other commanders to make it more interesting,” Izo said as he was already headed off to tell the others.

Thatch watched Izo leaving already regretting making the bet. He would have to prepare for tonight. 

“Are you all having a sleepover?” Rose asked tugging on Thatch’s pant leg.

“Er kinda.” 

“Am I invited?”

“You will have to ask Marco,” Haruta told her.

She looked into his eyes and nodded in understanding. Rose than stared behind Rakuyo intensely. Thatch tried to see what she was seeing as there was nothing of interest behind him. 

“He has gotten much closer from last night,” Rose told Rakuyo before walking off.

“.....I’m not sleeping alone tonight,” Rakuyo said very seriously. 

“Looks like you will be joining us tonight.” Thatch smirked at the groaning Rakuyo.

* * *

Marco opened the door to his old room with a sigh. He stepped in followed by the rest of the division commanders. He watched as Thatch bounced around the room with his usual idiocy. Marco had told him that the room was not haunted and he was not going to open it for him to mess around in. Alas, he could not say no to his chickling. So here he was being forced to take part in Thatch’s stupid bet. 

Dai did not believe in ghosts but he had joined thinking it would be fun to watch his brothers scared out of their minds. He also got the added bonus of being able to play with their youngest. He had not been trusted to be able to watch over her since he lost her on the island. It wasn’t his fault she was so fast. 

Jozu was simply there to get out of having to do his paperwork. He was never one to believe in ghosts, the idea to him was absurd. A soul sticking around to scare others? What a ridiculous thought. 

Thatch watched his brothers get settled in the room. He carefully eyed them all thinking of fun ways to scare them out of their pants. He could not wait to win this bet. Though he was not sure how he could get Macro to leave, he would be impossible to scare. 

Vista had joined because he had heard the others would be there, he did not want to seem like he was a scaredy-cat. Even if Vista was a bit scared, not that he would ever tell the others. He sat next to Blamenco and Rakuyo to tease how frightened Rakuyo was acting right now.

Blamenco had heard that if they had stayed the entire night they could get the others to be servants for an entire day. He only wanted to boss Thatch around to get him back for pranking him. He was not the strongest believer in the supernatural but he still came prepared just in case. After all, if magic fruits that gave superhuman powers then why couldn’t spirits be real? He had thanked his devil fruit for gifting him all of his pockets. Even if they were unsightly he could store things in them and no one would know what he had in there. Tonight he had them filled with different spirit related items such as salt and holy water just in case.

Rakuyo had seen Blamenco stuff his pockets with salt and assumed being near him would be the safest. He had been shaken up since the new devil they call a little sis had told him something unnerving this morning. He eyed the little girl who was staring at the corner of the room. He would make sure to stay as far away as possible. He could deal with Vista’s teasing if it meant he would survive tonight. 

Namur leaned with his back to the wall. He was watching his brothers talking amongst themselves. He had only come because he was excited to share his wide knowledge of ghost stories. He was actually quite into the occult which none of his brothers would have guessed. 

Blenheim had come with Curiel to watch the others freak out. Blenheim was already making bets with Curiel to see who would be the first one to leave. His bet was on Rakuyo well Curiel was betting on Fossa.

Curiel knew that besides his tough Fossa’s tough appearance he was one of the quickest to get scared by things like this. Fossa was already next to the door ready to bolt at the first sign of a ghost. 

Kingdew had only agreed to join the bet simply because he really wanted to be able to tell the other commanders what to do for a day. He wouldn’t do anything mean or unreasonable he just wanted to boss them around a bit. After all, it would be all in good fun.

Haruta was sitting crisscrossed rocking back and forth excited for tonight. He had grown up a single child without his parents around much and since joining under Pops he has been able to experience so much. Tonight is going to be his first sleepover and he was going to enjoy it no matter what. Even if he had to deal with ghosts trying to ruining it. He also had to prove to Izo and Thatch he was not scared of some ghosts by winning this bet;

Jiru had wanted to come but was much too scared to come by himself so he had asked Atmos his closest friend for moral support. So here they both were waiting for the rest to get settled. Atmos was standing next to a nervous Jiru who was glancing around as if he would see a ghost appear. 

Fossa was petrified of the supernatural and had only come because he did not want to be known as weak. So he joined the sleepover in hopes to prove he was as strong as he looked. The fact that he was standing next to the door ready to leave was beside the point though.

Izo had already made plans to stay up tonight and work on a few more outfits for Rose. Since she was here he could make sure the fit her along the way. Well, he didn’t want to stay the whole night but there was no way he could back down now. After all, he had said that he would do better than Thatch and Haruta. 

The night started with the commanders gathering in a circle to tell ghost stories. Most of the stories came from Namur but even after a while he had run out of good ghost stories to tell. They all sat in silence unsure of what to do until Rose spoke up.

“May I tell a story too?” Rose looked around the group.

“Sure chickling.” Dai smiled at her.

The group watched as Rose moved to the middle of the circle. None of them too worried about her story being scary but they were prepared to act scared when she was done.

She stood in the middle and looked at each one of them in the eye before starting.   
“There was once a pirate named Oikawa who lived his life doing as he wished. He was a greedy ruthless man who cared very little for human life. He would do anything for riches. This, of course, was his downfall. For one day he had heard about a legendary treasure. The legend was that there was a pile of golden riches left by the late King of a fallen kingdom. The treasure itself was rumored to be cursed and anyone who had ever gone after it would always disappear. He was warned that if he did find the treasure he must not take the crown from the king or else. Oikawa took no heed to the warnings and went off to find the treasure. He was able to find the treasure in a deep dark cave and just like the stories told there was a massive pile of gold.”

Rose paused for a moment to once again look at them all in the eyes. They all could feel the room starting to get colder, well unnerved the commanders sat still and listen to her.

“Now what had caught Oikawa’s attention was on a golden throne sat a skeleton in fur robes and upon his head was a golden crown interlaced with gems and jewels. Overcome by his nature Oikawa took the crown and placed it on his head. Though when he had something had grabbed his wrist. The skeleton was holding his wrist and its eyeless sockets were staring at him. Oikawa tried to pull the skeleton off but to no avail. He had called over his first mate Kageyama to help him try and pry it off. But when Kageyama neared his captain he stopped dead in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at him. When Oikawa ordered him to tell him what was wrong Kageyama simply said you’re turning to bones. And it was true Oikawa had lost his skin on his body. His head was the only thing that remained intact. But even that was starting to decay and fall off. Panicked Oikawa cut off his arm that was being held by the skeleton. Though it was too late the damage had been done. Oikawa had been reduced to nothing but a human head on a skeleton body. He realized his mistake and in an attempt to hide his monstrous self he killed everyone in his crew and harvest their skin. Of course, the skin will rot and decay so he set out in search of others to steal their skin. Rumor has it that he still to this day is looking for more skin. You can hear him approaching because he will laugh as he is ready to kill you.”

Rose finished up her story and stood still watching the commanders look at her uneasy and curious where she had learned this story. They all sat in silence for a while before a low unhinged laugh began. Rakuyo grabbed Blamenco ready to use him to escape. Fossa was already running towards the door desperate to get out. Marco, Izo, and Dai jumped up ready to fight whoever was with them. Thatch and Haruta grabbed each other for protection. 

The laughing stopped just as quickly as it started. Everyone was standing up in fight or flight mode, most in flight mode. The room was filled with screaming and panic with a floating head of a man wearing a crown suddenly appeared in the middle of the room next to Rose. Most of the commanders bolted from the room quickly leaving Dai, Marco, and Izo in the room with the head and Rose. Izo pointed his gun at the man’s head ready to shoot before letting out a yell to not attack. 

“What why?” Dai asked still ready to fight.

Izo pointed at the man standing, “That’s Julius! He was in Rakuyo’s division until was killed by a marine!”

“Hey, commander Izo.” Julius waved with his slowly forming body. A large smile on his face as he was excited for scaring the others.

Marco eyed the man who should be dead. Yet here he was holding Rose’s hand talking to them.

“How are you still alive?.... We saw you die ...We buried you..” Dai asked unsure of how he should be feeling. 

“I’m not alive. I did die that day. I’m currently a ghost. I couldn’t move on so I decided to stay aboard the ship with the others who couldn’t move on either. You are only able to see me now thanks to the littlest one” Julius told them.

The three commanders looked over at Rose. She smiled at them and waved at them.  
“After I got lost on the island I ate a strange fruit and then I could see a bunch of people who the others didn’t notice,” Rose told them.

“So it’s safe to assume that she has eaten a devil fruit,” Dai said out loud.

“It seems she has. We will have to look for information on this fruit to find out more about it. See what she can do now, yoi.” Marco said already thinking up a checklist of things they are going to need.

Izo studied Rose to see that she was now panting hard and seemed to be turning pale. 

“Sweetie are you okay?” Izo asked worried as he approached her.

“Yea…..just tired-” Rose started before she fell forward.

Luckily Izo was close enough to catch her. In her fall she had let go of Julius’ hand and he had disappeared. Marco was immediately by Rose’s side checking on her seeing what was wrong.

“She just seems to have used up all of her energy. It must take a lot out of her to make a spirit physical. Let's take her to the infirmary so she can rest and I can do a more thorough check, yoi.” Marco told Izo.

Izo nodded and quickly left with Marco leaving Dai the last one in the room, make Dai the winner of the bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Down Time


	8. Down Time

It has been about a week since everyone had learned about Rose's new devil fruit abilities. They had guessed that she had somehow found the Ghost Ghost fruit when she had gotten separated for Dai on her fourth birthday. She has since recovered her energy and they have learned a bit more about her powers thanks to Teach's book about all known devil fruits and their abilities. She can see, hear, and touch the souls of the recently departed. She is also able to give them physical form but to do so the souls must use her energy. Since she didn't have enough stamina to spare she currently wasn't allowed to use her powers to summon them. Though Rose would talk more about the unseen crew and it was a bit less unnerving when she would talk to them or watch them. It was rather nice to be able to hear about fellow crewmates that they had lost to battles and a few family members and friends they could no longer see. Though even if a few of the crew members didn't know all of the souls Rose would name or they would pretend didn't exist when it came to a certain mustached man in a red coat that would apparently appear frequently to sit and talk to Whitebeard even if Whitebeard couldn't hear him.

Now that things have calmed down a bit the commanders gathered on the deck early in the morning. Most of them looked tired and a few slightly pissed. Dai strolled in on the group a smile displayed happily all over his face.

"Good morning you all," Dai waved overly cheerful.

"Just give us your orders already Dai it's too early in the morning to deal with your bullshit," Izo glared.

"So feisty this morning Izo. But I'll take your guys' orders," Dai told them as he turned around to a pile of seemingly random things.

The other commanders watched Dai warily as he sifted through the pile pulling out things. Dai stood up faced them all with an armful of what appeared to be clothes.

"Here are your uniforms for today go get changed and come back," Dai said handing out their new clothing.

o0o

Marco has never been one to be embarrassed over trivial things. Sure there have been times in his younger age that he has come to realize how embarrassing those phases really were but he was young and full of mistakes so it is forgivable. What wasn't forgivable was his current predicament and Dai would learn his lesson about it tomorrow. Marco and the other commanders were all wearing animal onesies each one based on different animals.

"Why do we have to wear cute onesies?!" Thatch yelled angry pointing at Dai.

"Because Izo made them and I owed him so now you are forced to wear them. Plus they aren't that bad at least they are comfortable," Dai said as he led them over to an odd planting plot. "Now as a few of you probably have noticed Rose has become interested in gardening. She doesn't understand the difference between plantable things and normal things though,"

"I saw her yesterday 'planting' a knife," Haruta said.

"Exactly my point. That could have been dangerous for her and for whoever found it. So I'm planning on giving her this little plot to do some basic gardening, that way we can teach her all about plants and it would be fun and educational for her," Dai explained.

"So why are you telling us this?" Thatch questioned.

"Simple. It's currently a mess right now. I haven't had the time myself to clear it out. So you servants will be doing that for me,"

They all glanced past him to look at the weed-filled garden. The plot itself was rather small and clearly, one of the older ones since the frame was starting to rot and was badly stained with who knows what. Without too much complaining they all started to get to work fixing up the little section for their little sister, Dai even helped them.

After a good couple of hours, they had finished repairing the garden. They all stood back to admire all their hard work.

"Now then-" Dai started but was interrupted by a small voice.

Dai looked down at his side to see Rose with glasses of cold refreshing lemonade for them. She smiled and held up a glass for Dai, he happily took it. She then went around handing each commander a cup too, they all thanked her.

"Good timing little one. We have something for you," Dai told her, handing his cup to Thatch to hold.

She stared up at him tilting her head curious about what he could have. He chuckled lightly and ruffled up her hair before pointing to the recently cleaned garden. She glanced over at it and then back at Dai confused.

"It's your own little garden. The other commanders and I decided that we want to teach you a few things about gardening. So we fixed up this little plot for you," Dai explained as he pulled a few seed packets out of his pocket.

Rose jumped up and down excitedly. The commanders watched in amusement as she grabbed Dai's hand and yanked him into the garden. How a little girl was stronger than a Whitebeard commander the world would never know. Dai sat back on his heels and started to explain to her what each seed was and how to garden. It didn't take too long for Rose to rope in the rest of the commanders to help her and Dai plant the seeds.

"And this one is a flower, it's called a Rose," Dai said as he held up a few rose seeds.

Rose gently took the seeds and stared at them in wonder. She then excitedly looked up Dai and held out the seeds. "Let's plant them then! I want friends!"

"They wouldn't be like you, sweetie," Izo smiled down at her.

"But they are roses, aren't they?" Rose asked as she tilted her head to the side earning a course of coos.

"It's just a flower. People don't grow out of plants," Dai kindly explained.

"Oh," Rose mumbled softly.

"Well, I'm sure the flowers will be nice friends too," Haruta tried to cheer her up.

"Plus you have us and everyone on this ship to play with," Thatch told her as he picked her up and swung her around.

Rose laughed happily as she lifted her arms in the air. Marco glanced at the other commanders knowing that they are going to have to address what just happened later. But for now, they are going to enjoy this moment as a family.

"Come on little one let's go get some brunch I bet we are all hungry," Dai said as he took her hand as soon as Thatch set her down. The rest of the group followed her and Dai to the galley.

o0o

Marco sat at his desk and let out a small stretch as he finished up the last of his paperwork for the day. He had been lucky to have the excuse of being the first division commander with duties to do so he wouldn't have to deal with any more of Dai's annoying requests for the day at least. It wasn't a lie though he did have a lot of things to finish today. He glanced over at Rose who was sitting quietly on his bed reading one of the medical books that he had in his room. He was honestly pretty proud of how smart she was. He assumed that she got that from her mother because after sailing with Oyaji for so many years now he knew that his captain was another but a smart man. Of course, his captain wasn't stupid but that man was a D in all but name. Marco had the displeasure of meeting multiple Ds in his lifetime and he has come to learn that they do not think with their heads but with their hearts. Not that Marco couldn't say that sometimes he let his heart decide his actions rather than the logical part of his brain.

Marco shook his head before looking back at Rose who was too wrapped up in her studies to notice him watching her. He had started with the basics that everyone should know such as reading and writing along with basic math. He was a bit surprised to find out how quickly she picked things up. If he was being truthful with himself he was a little worried about how fast she was learning. He was overjoyed to find out how much she seemed to love learning and there was nothing he would ever do to tell her to stop her pursuit of knowledge he wasn't worried about that at all. But what worried him was how determined she was to learn things that she shouldn't have to worry about.

For example, her recent want...No her need to learn about medicine after one of Whitey Bay's visits. Rose had gotten a thorough check-up from Whitey Bay before the ice witch had turned her eyes on the captain and be scolding him for his reckless drinking and about his health. Rose seemed to have thought that meant Pops was going to kill over within the minute and it took some time from Marco and Pops himself to calm the crying 4-year-old and convince her that Pops wasn't going to die for a long time. But ever since then she has tried to learn everything that she could about the medical world. A few of the nurses had expressed their concerns over a child being subjected to graphic material at a young age. Even if they had valid concerns it wasn't as if she hasn't already been seen the worst from joining the crew. It wasn't uncommon for rival pirates to come looking for fights and they were pirates for crying out loud there was no way things wouldn't end up in death and bloodshed even if they tried to keep Rose away from it things happened. Marco sighed once more before he stood up and walked over to Rose. She looked up from the medical journal to smile at him.

"Come on chickling it's time for Thatch's cooking lesson, yoi," Marco said as he scooped her up in his arms after she put the book down.

Rose climbed up his side to sit on his shoulders where she finally got settled down Marco grabbed her legs to make sure she didn't fall off. He wasn't too worried about her hitting her head on any door frames since their ship had been built to accommodate their rather captain and taller crew members. He headed back to the deck where he was found Dai still making the other Commanders suffer.

"Big Brother! Cooking time!" Rose shouted before she launched herself off of Marco's shoulders and into Thatch's hands.

"Chickling! You can't just surprise attack us like that!" Thatch scolded her as he set her down.

"Sorry Thatch…." Rose mumbled softly as she looked towards the ground and grabbed fistfuls of the hem of her shirt.

Thatch let out a sigh before ruffling up her hair and smiling down at her, "It's okay Chickling you just have to be more careful. Sometimes we just might not be able to catch you and we want to keep you safe."

Rose looked up at him smiling and nodded in understanding before taking Thatch's hand. Thatch chuckled at her well Izo cooed over how cute their littlest sister was. Thatch looked at the other commanders before smirking.

"Looks like I'm finally free from Dai for the day," Thatch stated proudly.

"HEY! THAT ISN'T FAIR!" Haruta yelled.

"Haruta you know the schedule. Today is Kingdew's and Thatch's turns to teach Rose for the day. Tomorrow is yours and Vista's turn, yoi." Marco told him annoyed about having to go over this again.

"And your turn was four days ago but you gotta get away from Dai to teach her!" Haruta complained.

Marco rubbed his temples before looking up at Haruta, "No I had to redo the paperwork your lazy ass did wrong all because you wanted to finish it quickly. I still have plenty to do because some people here do not know how to control their divisions, yoi."

"It wasn't my fault that the 4th division tried to prank us!" Dai yelled in defense.

"But it was your fault for lighting Thatch on fire which then spread to the deck and burnt almost of the mainsail, yoi," Marco said calmly staring down Dai.

Dai quickly looked innocently trying to pretend that was most definitely wasn't him. Thatch took that as his cue to get the hell out of here before the wrath of the phoenix was turned on to him.

"Now if you excuse me I have to go finish that paperwork. Do not do anything stupid well I am busy. I am not in the mood, yoi," Marco said as he stared down Dai before turning on his heel and headed back to his room.

"Hey I have a great idea to help cheer up the local mother hen," Dai said smiling turning to the other commanders.

"Did you not just hear Marco telling you not to do anything stupid? Or are you just that brain dead?" Kingdew pointed out.

"Hey! I'm not brain dead! And I heard him but it's not anything stupid and we won't get in trouble plus it will totally cheer him up!" Dai said.

"If I kindly ask to not be involved would you?" Namur questioned.

"Nope! After all, you all have to still follow every order that I give for the rest of the day! I still have until the end of dinner to abuse these powers and I will be doing exactly that." Dai stated a matter of factly.

o0o

Marco entered the gallery and grabbed a plate before sitting at the commander's table. Just as he sat down Dai excused himself and quickly left the gallery.

"He is up for something isn't he, yoi?" Marco asked looking around the table.

"Do you even need to ask?" Izo mumbled.

"It would just be quicker to just always assume that he is up to something all the time," Kingdew said.

"You know you shouldn't always doubt your fellow commander," Thatch said as he sat at the table.

"Between you, Dai, and Haruta I always have to worry that something is going happened," Marco told him as he finished off his plate. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to go deal with whatever Dai is up to."

"Have fun!" Thatch yelled after Marco waving.

o0o

Marco made his way back to his room to hear Dai's hushed whispers telling someone to stay still and be quiet. He let out a sigh before he opened his door to be greeted with an interesting sight. On the floor, Dai had arranged a bunch of blankets and pillows into a nest on the floor. Then inside the nest, he had put a bunch of eggs that he probably stole from the fridge. Rose was sitting in the middle smiling at Marco dressed up as a giant blue egg with golden swirls.

"Mama!" Rose yelled starling Dai causing him to drop a few eggs he was trying to arrange.

"O-oh hey mama bird. You got back quicker than I thought you would. Damn bastards were supposed to keep you busy." Dai stuttered as he stood up and hid the now empty carton of eggs behind his back.

"I'll give you a minute to clean up and take the eggs back to the kitchen before we have over-easy Dai for breakfast tomorrow, yoi," Marco said lazily as he glanced over at the now nervous Dai.

"What you don't like your nest?" Dai smirked.

Marco held up three fingers and stared down Dai. Dai didn't seem fazed so Marco put down one of his fingers and looked Dai dead in the eye.

"I'm not a kid Marco I'm not going to be threatened just because you're counting down," Dai told him.

"You better hurry up and clean up you bastard!" Rose yelled at Dai as she looked at Marco's hand panicked.

Dai blinked at Rose in surprise at what she had just said. Suddenly he could feel a killing intent directed at him. Dai slowly turned his head to meet Marco's death glare head-on. Before he realized that he had cursed in front of her meaning this was his fault.

"Oh…...now I'm scared," Dai said before he took off running just barely avoiding the flames from Marco.

Marco extinguished his flames before he glanced over at Rose who still sat there smiling at him unaware of what she had said. Marco sighed for like the umpteenth time today before he picked her up and put her in his lap as he sat in the 'nest'.

"Chickling you can't say that word again. It's a no-no word. Okay, yoi?" Marco explained looking into her eyes.

Rose tilted her head to the side confused. "A no-no world?"

"Bastard is not a world you should be saying because it's an adult-only world, yoi," Marco explained to her.

Rose nodded in understanding. "Then I promise not to say that world again until I'm an adult."

Marco smiled and petted the top of her head. "Good. Come on let's get some sleep little one it's late and we have a busy day tomorrow."

Rose yawned before she snuggled into Marco's chest. "Mama, can you sing me a lullaby?"

"Of course my chickling," Marco said before he started to sing.

" _Hush now my little chickling don't you say a word,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a bluebird,_

_And if that bluebird won't sing,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a big brother,_

_And if that big brother doesn't pull a prank,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a diamond,_

_And if that diamond is too shiny,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a pompadour,_

_And if that pompadour doesn't cook,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a flower,_

_And if that flower has a mustache,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a pocket,_

_And if that pocket won't build,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a lion,_

_And if that lion has earrings,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a fish,_

_And if that fish has sharp teeth,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a sword_

_And if that sword has a beard,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a watermelon,_

_And if that watermelon has gunpowder,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a weapon expert,_

_And if that weapon expert is too tall,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a navigator,_

_And if that navigator is too short,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a helmet,_

_And if that helmet has horns,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a lance_

_And if that lance is too fast,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a cigar,_

_And if that cigar smokes too much,_

_Whitebeard's gonna get you a geisha,_

_And if that geisha takes too long,_

_You'll still be the best pirate around."_

Marco glanced down to the now sleeping Rose in his arms. He smiled at her as he gently moved her to be sitting more comfortably in his lap.

"You know you are an awful songwriter," Thatch said as he was leaning on the door frame watching them.

"Well, it was the best I could come up with on the spot," Marco said softly.

"I mean I guess it made sense that you didn't want to sing one of our drinking songs to her," Thatch said as he picked up the eggs spread around the room.

"Well, it's not like she hasn't heard them before. I just thought it would be best to sing an actual lullaby to her, yoi." Marco said as he smiled down at Rose.

"You know if you never became a pirate I think you would have been a great father." Thatch said as he smiled watching them both.

"I probably still would have run off to become a pirate even if I had a kid of my own. None of us could avoid the call of the sea, yoi," Marco said as he glanced up at his friend.

Thatch chuckled softly, "Yea you're right there. Everyone on this ship would always make the choice to become a pirate no matter what happens. And I'm sure in the future our little chickling would make the same choice."

"You think she will become a pirate, yoi?" Marco questioned as he tried to think of Rose in the future.

"Well, she is being raised on a pirate ship with a bunch of pirates. Plus she has pirate blood running through her there is no way she won't become one. And if I know anything about Ds then I know she is going to cause chaos everywhere she goes. I bet the moment she let loose on the world she is going to cause a storm."

"Our little chickling will be a force to be reckoned with, yoi," Marco said as he tucked her into bed and kissed her forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Roger's Visit


	9. Roger's Visit

**So it's been a while since I have uploaded a chapter. I think it's been like 8 months since the last update. Though that was kinda expected that I wouldn't be able to have the free time to write this story since I'm currently attending college which I already was awful at and Covid-19 did not help. Though some good news I have been working on the other chapters. I currently have chapter 12 and chapter 13 already written and half of chapter 11. So I just need to write chapter 10 and finish 11 and hopefully, that won't take too long. In the beginning, I said that I didn't know how long this fic was going to be and I still don't but I do have up to chapter 22 planned out with ideas on how to continue it from there. If you all want I can upload the chapter plans but they kinda explain what exactly will happen in those chapters and may end up changing depending on how things go. Anyways enjoy**

* * *

Chapter Nine Roger's Visit

* * *

Rose and Izo were sitting up in the crow’s nest looking out over the sea.

“Izo?” Rose asked.

“Yes, sweetie?” Izo answered, glancing at her from the corners of his eyes.

“What’s the next island going to be like?”

“It’s a winter island. Ah, that reminds me I need to finish up the coats I was making for you.”

“What’s a winter island like?”

“Hmmm...Well, to start off with, they are usually freezing and almost constantly snowing. But you can still have lots of fun there.”

“Oh, like what?” Rose asked excitedly as she turned to look at Izo.

“Well, we usually start by making some snowmen and snow angels before Thatch or someone under him tosses a snowball, and then it becomes an all-out war, it’s fun though. We usually settle down after a long and, the 4th Divisions get to work distributing hot chocolate out to the crew.” Izo explained a fond smile present on his face. 

“That sounds like fun! I can’t wait to do that!” Rose shouted excitedly.

Izo smiled and ruffled her hair. "Why don't you go and find Pops and get a story or something? It's probably not that interesting sitting up here with me." 

"Okay," Rose said as she scampered down the ladder to the main deck. As it was the middle of the day not too many were free and able to play with her, but that was okay because Pops was always able to tell her a story if she asked. However, when she ran up to Pops chair he was arguing with the nurses who were trying to get him to put down his drink.

"Wahahaha. I'm glad to see even in his old age he is still as stubborn as he was when he was younger." An unfamiliar voice said next to Rose. 

Rose looked next to her to see a tall man in a red captain coat with a very strange mustache. She wasn't too surprised to see him there since he would often visit her pops and would talk about their past together. She never tried to listen in too much because Mama said that it was rude to eavesdrop on people.

"Hello, there sir," Rose said.

"Hello, there child." The man said cheerfully. 

"My name is Rose what's your name, sir?" Rose said as she moved to sit on the railing of the ship.

"Wahahaha you sit there and listen to stories of me yet you don't even know who I am?" The man said as he moved to sit next to her on the railing watching the sea.

Rose shook her head no and studied him closer, racking her brain to find out who this man could be.

"Well child, my name is Gol D. Roger." He said as he turned to look at her with a smile that was as bright as the sun.

Rose gasped loudly and almost fell into the sea when she quickly moved to face Roger. "You're THE Gol D. Roger! I can't believe that I get to meet you! Pops has told me so many stories about you! You most definitely have to be my favorite pirate! Well actually Pops is my favorite pirate...and then there is the rest of the crew too...You're my favorite non - Whitebeard pirate! Ah, but then there is Shanks and his crew…Ah well you're a pirate who I highly admire." Rose said, returning her own smile to Roger.

Roger chuckled, "Well thank you little one for at least admiring me. I wish my own son liked me as much as you did."

"Wait, son?" Rose said tilting her head to the side confused.

Roger nodded and glanced back out towards the sea. There was a moment of silence before Roger twirled his mustache and turned back towards Rose. 

"That is one thing that Newgate will never be able to tell you about. My sweet son Gol D. Ace…. though he goes by his mother's maiden name Portgas. Not that I mind all that much what last name he goes by. In fact, I'm kind of glad his hatred towards me has one good thing to it and that is he tries so hard not to associate with me so the chances of him being known as my son are slim to none. I'm not quite sure if you understand what would happen to you if the World Government found out about your existence at all. I'm sure you could be passed off as Marco's child but even then the child of the first mate of Whitebeard? Or even your real identity as the child of Whitebeard himself. You would be hunted down just like the Devil child. She is barely fifteen and has been on the run from them since she was eight years old." Roger said solemnly.

"......I'm aware of what they would do to me… Mama made sure that I understood that no one could know the truth." Rose said seriously.

Roger watched her out of the corner of his eye before he gave a nod. "I'm glad that the boy has a good head on his shoulders. I knew him to be just as wild as my two cabin boys."

"You had cabin boys? Pops never mentioned them." Rose asked.

"I did. Well, they were younger than I would have liked I'm glad we had brought them aboard. They were a major part of our family and always kept us on our toes. You may have heard of one of them as he is currently a bit of a big shot right now. He hasn't changed much since he was a kid and is still a wild little scamp but he has a crew of his own and I have to say he is an amazing leader and I wish I could tell him how proud of him I am. Actually maybe next time Shanks stops by you can tell him exactly that for me." Roger looked Rose in the eyes silently asking for her to accept his request.

"I can't believe that Shanks was a cabin boy on your crew! That's so cool! I have to ask him about it next time I see him! Ah and I'll be sure to pass your message on to him the next time I see him too." Rose said as she smiled up at Roger.

"Thanks, kid. That would mean a lot to both of us." Roger said as he smiled slightly.

"Speaking of passing on messages can you tell me more about Ace?" Rose asked.

"Well, where should I start with that little scamp... Ah, how old are you?" Roger asked.

"I turned six just a few months ago," Rose said as she held up six fingers proudly to tell him. 

"Ace is just a year older than you are, he turned seven on the first of January. He also is a bit of a wild child but I blame that on how Garp raised him. Or rather more on the lack of Garp raising him. That stupid bastard dropped my precious baby boy off with some random mountain bandits. How is he supposed to be brought up as a good person if he is being raised by those fuckers and he expects him to join the Marines as if that is going to protect him at all. Plus those stupid idiots told him that he is a 'monster child' just because I'm a 'monster' even though none of the stories he hears about me are even remotely true they are just lies and slanders spread by my enemies and the marines to make me out to be an awful person. He already has such a hard life and with all of this, he has such a negative image of his life and self-worth...I'm so worried that he won't even make it to adulthood with how reckless he is with his life… Wait! Maybe if he heard from someone who actually knew of me or at least stories of me and had a similar life he may live a better life!" Roger shouted excitedly as he turned to look at Rose. 

Rose blinked slowly and tried to process what exactly Roger was asking of her. 

"Are you asking me to be friends with Ace?" She asked unsure.

Roger nodded eagerly excited that someone could finally do that he himself could not do for his own blood.

"I don't know… I don't even know where he is or how to get to him. Plus what if he doesn't want to be friends with me? I mean he could see me as the enemy because even if our situation is the same you two were enemies so he may think I'm going to kill him or something." Rose said as she put her head in her hands thinking it over.

"Ah….I didn't think about that…. and you couldn't bring the Whitebeards to the island because then that island would be under investigation and that could lead to him being found… But you could ask Shanks! He isn't a Yonko just yet! So if he went to Dawn island then it wouldn't raise too many questions plus with Garp the main Marine who watches over that area he will be okay." Roger said thoughtfully.

"Why would a Marine not be a rat?" Rose asked thinking back to all of the times the crew had discussed their hatred and distrust of the Marines.

"Monkey D. Garp is different from other Marines. He has an actual sense of Justice and can realize when the Marines are doing horrible things. He tries his best to do things better but that doesn't always mean he does. Garp is known as the Hero of Marines because he took out Whitebeard's old Captain Rocks D. Xebec. He was an awful man that only cared to be the sole ruler of the land and own everything and wasn't afraid of killing people who got in his way. He was also a rival of mine at the time but he was much stronger than a younger me but Garp and I teamed up and were able to take him down. Obviously, the Marines made the media print in the news that Garp had been the sole fighter against Rocks but that's fine with me since I didn't care for the fame of it. Anyway because Garp was set on also taking me down so we formed a rival-like friendship that kept us each on our toes and kept us going. We were the closest kind of friends. In the end, I knew that he would agree that a kid shouldn't have to pay for their parents' sins so I trusted him with my kid." Roger told her.

Then as if an afterthought added, "Plus you didn't hear this from me but Garp has a son named Monkey D. Dragon. He is the head of the Revolutionary Army. A certainly noble cause that is meant to overturn the World Government. It wouldn't be my mug of beer but hey to each their own. But my point is that Dragon had a kid not too long ago. I believe the kid's name was Buffy or Luffy or something like that. My wife also likes to keep an on eye the kid so she knows more about him than me. Anyways Dragon also trusted his kid to Garp to keep him safe. So I know Garp is a good person and if you happened to tell him your lineage then he would also protect you too." 

"Huh...I never thought that there could be other kids out there with the same problem as I do…. and all of our lives to seem to have started off so different…" Rose said as she watched the sea wondering about the two boys she had just learned about.

"I'm sure there are tons of kids out there who may or may not know about their 'cursed' blood. No one should face crimes that aren't their own. Everyone should be free and able to go and commit their own crimes, you know?" Roger said seriously.

Rose just blinked and nodded in slight understanding of Roger's rambling. 

"Ah, there you are chickling. I have been looking all around the ship for you, yoi," Marco said as he picked her up and balanced her on his hip. 

"Sorry I was talking to a new friend and listening to his requests," Rose explained to Marco.

"A new friend? Anybody, I would know?" Marco asked as he looked at the spot she was talking to as if someone would manifest.

Roger looked back at Marco and let out a chuckle and spoke, "To think the little spitfire that I used to know would be such a doting parent. It's actually really funny to see him like this."

"Hmm nope Mama. He is just a passing spirit is all." Rose said turning to smile at Marco.

"You know you don't have to fulfill every spirit's request that you come across chickling, yoi."

"I know. But I feel bad for those who have lingering regrets. Plus his requests are something that interests me a lot," Rose said.

"Well as long as you don't do something that puts you in danger or is out of your ability then you can try and help the spirits," Marco told her as he nodded towards where he thought the spirit was before he turned on his heel and walked to the kitchen.

Rose waved goodbye to Roger and in return, he waved goodbye before he vanished from her sight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Snow?


End file.
